“The law of the harvest is always in effect. What you plant, you must harvest. Furthermore, what you plant consistently overtime eventually yields a compounded or exponential harvest.” – Benjamin Hardy

Would you believe me if I said the past several years have been this internal struggle with who I am and what I want. Three years ago, I felt inspired to create or write – what exactly, I wasn’t sure. I scribbled notes and lists and ideas when inspiration would come to me in the back of notebooks. Two years ago, I purchased a blog domain, amndaray.blog. Just this past year, I dabbled in writing – when I say dabble – literally had a burst of inspiration and wrote maybe three things or so, saved them to my computer, in a folder, tucked away for only me. I played with story plots in my mind, lost in my thoughts, but never wrote.

I can be a bit ambitious at times. Being afraid of failing at my own expectations must be behind my procrastination. For my two readers (you know who you are if you are still subscribed), today is the day that I post on this half-created blog. I’m posting this with a bigger vision in mind. This is a start. That is the secret – starting. It doesn’t have to be perfect or all perfectly planned out. Stop dwelling. Start.

It seems appropriate to spring into action at the same time the flowers are blooming during spring break. Maybe it’s the eventfulness of creatives being in Austin for SXSW. Three years ago, through a project I was on at work, I came across Benjamin Hardy’s blog posts on Medium. I even was selected by him for one-on-one coaching in early 2016. 2016 was a big year for me professionally and Hardy’s nudges were an influence, in addition to my ‘why.’ 2016 was an interesting year, that I may dive into another time, but by the end of it, for various reason, I felt a need for new direction or challenge. Through several events that tested me professionally and personally, 2017 was a time of reflection for me and a different type of growth. It didn’t feel very productive. I sat reflecting and found myself wishing I would have started writing on ‘that’ blog. And here we are, 2018. Hardy published a book, I pre-ordered it, and feel the need to spring into action. For crying out loud, I purchased this blog domain a year and half ago, and it still sits with nothing on it!

So today my readers, may the warmth of spring-time-Texas sun, blooming bluebonnets and redbud trees, and this bit of encouragement from me let you know that you can spring into your dreams. Just as a hard freeze won’t keep the hearty redbud and mountain-laurel from blooming, don’t let your own self or daily nagging struggles keep you from blooming. Don’t believe the lies you fool yourself with as truths. Small, baby steps. This I commit to you, to write – not necessarily often or any specific word count. But to write some encouragement and post, to test out this thing I feel oddly ‘called’ to do. My hope is that in my words I can be a ray of light. A bit of inspiration to let you know that one step is a step. And with many small steps, you can go further than not moving at all.

If you too want to focus on improving an area of your life, I encourage you to pick up Hardy’s new book, and embrace the Competition.